


Trauma

by WittyPiglet



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Chains, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21718099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WittyPiglet/pseuds/WittyPiglet
Summary: A Tumblr requestPrompt:For the DA or ME thing, solavellan where lavellan was an elven slave rescued by clan lavellan and panics when she wakes up in chains at the beginning? She is a mage and magic is going everywhere and Cassandra is freaking out but Solas calms her?
Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas, Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan, Lavellan & Solas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Trauma

Chains. 

That's all that registered through the foggy haze of her mind. She was  _ chained _ . Someone had chained her, taken away her freedom once more. 

It was  _ terrifying _ . 

_ She _ was terrified. 

She couldn’t pull herself free, the restraints limited any, if not all of her movement. Her hand was hurting, green light and magic covering it before retreating into her palm. That wasn’t hers. She didn’t do that. The encroaching terror and fear of her containment was intensified from the unnatural magic she found her hand creating.

What happened? Why was she here?

Had her old master finally caught up to her and reclaimed his stolen property? No, no her clan would already be here to free her if that had been the case. Their Keeper,  _ her Keeper,  _ had promised her freedom. Promised that she would never be owned again. Made her his First.

She was supposed to be free, so why was she chained?

Her throat constricted, breath coming up short in her panicked state. The guards she hadn’t noticed till now all pointed their swords at her, ready to eliminate her if the need arose. She was struggling to breathe and for one, terrifying moment she felt her own magic spike.

One of the torches’ flames erupted, nearly setting the nearest guard alight. He fell against one of his brothers in his haste to get away from the suddenly roaring fire, the remaining lamps soon lighting up and raging in their torches, just itching to catch on something and spread itself.

The grate above the cell-like room showed the beautiful sky outside. This didn’t last much longer as the wind began to howl, the sky growing darker and darker as storm clouds gathered. Lighting and thunder began to light and sound outside, icy chunks of hail clattered against the grate, falling between the bars and pelting the guards and Lavellan. She hadn't noticed, too lost in her memories of choking chains and evil human beings.

Lightning struck against the grate, singing the metal and making one of her four guards scream. The fires were raging harder due to the howling wind slipping inside with the hail and hurling everything and everyone into complete disarray.

The lightning was sounding all too much like the crack of a whip. She didn't drop the china on purpose. It was an accident. The thunder was like slamming doors, reminding her of where she was as someone was coming to either call on her services or punish her for menial things.

The wind...Oh, the wind...Lavellan swore she could hear the screaming of her fellow slaves as they were beaten and punished within an inch of their lives. Some never opened their eyes again and were just discarded in unmarked graves. A slave’s death wasn’t worthy of being acknowledged, wasn’t deserving of its own grave and tombstone.

The storm battered against the grate, slipping inside and battered against the people. It raged harder, screaming.

She was reminded of being forced to do her master’s bidding, losing all free will as she was collared and branded. The brand betwixt her shoulder blades burned with phantom pains.

Lavellan wasn’t even aware she was screaming. She was too lost in her own agony of phantom’s past. Her blood curdling screaming was only drowned out by the screaming of the wind.

It felt like the chains were tightening around her, enclosing her whole body in a cage like an animal. An oddity. A pet to show off to all your friends.

Tears trickled down her cheeks, staining her skin in their tracks. The door slammed open, letting more of the storm in, and a stoic woman watched Lavellan like she was the most evilest creature to ever grace the Maker’s soil. She approached, trying to ignore the fires and storm seeping into the room. Another woman approached behind her, her head covered and expression closed off.

None of their noise could be heard over Lavellan’s screaming and the storm.

“Get Solas!,” were words lost to all but a single guard who hurried to escape the cell. This woman was named Cassandra and as she approached the tormented young elf, her expression did not soften, did not waver. She kneeled before the mage and gave her a hard slap across the face. “Stop this! Stop attacking before we execute you for your crimes!” The other woman, Leliana, was the only one close enough to here Cassandra’s words besides Lavellan.”

“Cassandra!” Leliana had to yell, despite her close proximity to the two. “I don’t think she’s doing this consciously! Look at her!”

Cassandra had Lavellan by the shoulders, just on the verge of shaking her into submission if need be. She didn’t have to resort to that at least, as the guard sent to fetch him arrived with the elven mage, Solas, in tow.

“I’ve brought him Seeker!”

“Solas! She won’t stop!”

“Cassandra, take Leliana and the guards and leave her and I alone. I’ll end this.” Cassandra was skeptical, of course she was, but she did as told just on the off chance that Solas could stop this and save their encampment.

The room was cleared out, except for Solas and Lavellan, and the door locked behind them. She was still screaming her head off, as if stuck in a moment in time.

Solas approached her, the storm and fire never even ruffling his robes. He knelt in front of her, catching her chin between his index finger and thumb. Such a simple act had her eyes snapping open to stare tearfully into calculating ones. Solas could see the pain there and he knew...he knew what had happened, what her past had done to her mentality. It was broken, she was broken.

His heart clenched in a way it should never and he leaned closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead, over the horrid vallaslin. The fires slowly began to die down her her screaming was reduced to choked sobs. The storm continued, but it too began to dissipate when Solas’s long arms wrapped around her shaking shoulders, tugging the young elf into a gentle and comforting embrace. This was completely out of character for Solas, but he was hurting because she was hurting. It shouldn’t be like this, but it was. He already had a key to her crippling restraints, freeing her and effectively silencing the storm in one fell swoop.

Without her magic running a muck with the elements, it was too quiet save for the quiet sobbing. Solas took a moment to hold her, shushing her sobs and telling her it was going to be okay. Solas wasn’t supposed to do these things, but he was.

Maybe this once, it was okay to break character.

Just this once though. No one needs to get any bright ideas about him.

Lavellan was quiet, all was quiet.

Her past still tormented her, but Solas hoped that, in this moment, the young woman was at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> I do take requests on Tumblr and on here for Dragon Age and Mass Effect.


End file.
